Roy Oswalt’s presenter chosen

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Linda Montoya, a 53-year-old mother of three and grandmother of one “Astro-loving” granddaughter, won the opportunity Roy Oswalt offered to introduce him at the annual Houston Baseball Dinner.

Montoya has been an Astros fan since moving to Corpus Christi in 1991. Her devotion increased, she said, when she moved to Houston in 2004.

Billy Smith II/Houston Chronicle

Roy Oswalt is one of those who create life-long memories for fans of the Astros.

“I’m a mother of three children, three-baseball-loving daughters, and I have one granddaughter,” said Montoya, born in Whittier, Calif., and raised a Dodgers fan. “Half of her clothes are Astros clothes. … I’m a big believer of rooting for the home team, with the exception of if I lived in Boston or Chicago.

“I was really thrilled the first time I came to Houston because I was going to be able to see Bagwell and Biggio. One of my goals in life is to be able to see a game at every major league stadium in the country. I’m probably at about 15 to 18.”

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By the way, tickets for the Jan. 26, dinner at Hilton Americas are $75 each and can be purchased by calling Jo Russell at 713-789-0626.

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Montoya read all the entries that were submitted, taking her time though over 30,000 words worth of your memories.

“I think I was motivated because it was an opportunity for me to talk about my father,” she said. “I wanted people to know about my father. That was my first priority. I thought how nice it was going to be that I’m going to share some memories about him to other people. It was comforting, I think, in the first sense because he had been gone so long.

“I read everyone’s. I found them interesting. The common thread that I found was that it was a joy of connecting with someone about something. I was very impressed with everyone’s essays. I enjoyed them so much.”

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Montoya wrote her essay at about 5 a.m. on Dec. 10. She submitted it and then submitted some corrections later. After yet another edit, this is her essay:

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Growing up, baseball at our house was not a game, it was an event. We all sat around the little black and white television, and cheered on our team. If someone came to the door while we were watching the World Series, they just had to come back another day.

Going to Dodger Stadium was the biggest thrill of my life and Sandy Koufax was my hero. He was not only a great athlete, but a good and decent man who put family and his faith above all else. It seemed that the morals and beliefs my parents were teaching me were being echoed by my baseball hero.

As I grew older, both my father and my mother continued to share their passion of baseball with me. As my father lay dying in a Veteran’s Hospital from the affects of Malaria contracted in WWII, it was baseball season. Each day as I entered his hospital room, the first thing my father did was to inquire about the Dodger game.

The last thing he said to me after “I Love You” was “Don’t worry, the Dodgers will win the World Series this year.” As I cried because I knew my father was slipping away that moment, I also had to laugh because one of the things my father had gifted to me was his love of baseball, and the ability baseball had to lessen the stress of daily life.

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Dodger Dogs, Cracker Jack, soda, the fast ball, the crack of the bat hitting the ball – precious gems a dad shared with his little girl. My dad taught me that while we may be separated from those we love by their loss, we are given memories to see us through our grief.

As I sat watching the World Series the year (1981) my dad died, I grieved that I could not call him after every game to discuss the outcome. (Then in 1988) the Dodgers were looking at a loss until Captain Kirk came up to bat.

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We all know the story of the nearly crippled Kirk limping up to bat. I kept telling my husband “Don’t worry – we’re going to win – my dad promised me.” Everyone in the room looked at me like I was crazy. The bat hit the ball, the loudest “crack” in Dodger history.

I looked up to the heavens and said a silent prayer of thanks to my dad because I knew he was up there smiling down at his best baseball buddy – the daughter he taught to love the game of baseball.

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I moved to Houston with my Texas husband, and baseball at our house is now an event. We take our three daughters to Minute Maid Park to see our beloved Astros. My dad never had the chance to know my baseball-loving daughters, but his love of baseball passed from him, to me, to my girls.

As we sat in the stands for the entire 18-inning game against the Atlanta Braves and everyone around us was in despair and worried, I was the cool cucumber, remembering my dad’s indomitable spirit when he cheered for his team.

I knew we would win. When we did, I said a silent prayer of thanks to my dad for I knew he was watching me and smiling at me from above. On October 19, (2005) my first grandchild was born.

How fitting that she should be born on the day that the Astros clinched a berth to their first World Series. I enrolled her as an “Astro Buddy” and we have already taken her to many games. My husband and I are now passing on my father’s love of baseball to the newest generation in our family.

As we sit at Minute Maid Park, or in front of our television now – I marvel that the game I learned to love because of my parents is now helping me to make memories that my girls will cherish long after I am gone. They will smile and look to the heavens and say “Mom, my team won today, are you up there smiling?”

I have to say that ‘me’ displayed an attitude/class that makes this Astros fan grimace…I’ve not posted until now and its out of anger at me’s post that did it. How sad. ‘Me’…you should be ashamed of yourself!!!

What a wonderful story of Linda Montoya as a baseball fan and an Astros fan who is leaving a wonderful legacy of baseball to her daughters.

The Astros have always been a class organization and their players routinely exemplify the type of player you’d want to be an ‘Astros Buddy’ with.

Atta girl, Linda! May the baseball dinner be icing on the cake for someone who really deserves it–you! Thanks to Jose and Roy for giving us the chance to participate. Hopefully we all had fun reminiscing. The ’07 season is almost here–let’s go make some new memories with our loved ones!

Congrats and thanks for sharing your story with us Linda – and also to all those who took the time to write. It was fun learning of so many others’ experiences and love for the great game of baseball – and the Astros, of course!

Wow, “me,” why can’t you just congratulate the winner? Linda’s entry is very good and touching (even though I wish I would have won :)!) She is a worthy winner. Jose, will we be able to find out who the other finalists were? Have a good time meeting Roy, Linda!

I know i read better stories than this in the posts and i didnt even write one it sounds to me like a short story instead of real life events and the fact that it didnt have as much astros history in it as some others written neglects the topic you picked for the discussion as we all know it was how much astro baseball has effected our lives and our families lives